Why Correct? Why not simply remove?

I awoke this morning and as usual I made the rounds of my favorite news sites. I made my way to the ClickOnDetroit website and found an article about a visit that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had made to Grosse Pointe Michigan before his death.

As I read the article I noticed an error – they stated that the speech took place in 1968 the same year as the Detroit riot.

I was here during the riot, and that was 1967, not1968.

I e-mailed the site and got a prompt response, the correction had been made.

I went back to the site to check, and sure enough the reference to the Detroit riot had been removed – however the article still stated that the speech was given “just three weeks before he was assassinated.” and gave the date of the speech as Aug. 14, 1968.

I KNOW that Dr. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, so finding him in Grosse Pointe Michigan, four months after his death on August 14, 1968, came as a shock.

I shot back a polite but earnest e-mail seeking a further correction. I got a prompt and terse reply stating that there had been a “typo” and that the article was now correct – please refresh the page in my web browser.

I refreshed the page and voile! NO ARTICLE!

Why correct when you can simply remove?

To get the facts about anyone’s life incorrect is wrong, but to do so with Dr. King – whose basic information can be quite quickly Googled – is unpardonable. It shows a basic lack of respect – for Dr. King, and the target audience of that article.